CV
by Calvin Wong
Summary: When Cruiser 42 receives a distress signal from an unknown ship, the crew find themselves in the middle of a mystery that might cost them more than just their lives. (Complete Story)
1. Death Eternal

CV

_All weapons have failed. Our last bastion of defense is gone. Only our battered hull stands between us and the enemy._

The ship sped through space, closing the distance between itself and it's target. The navigation officer slowly opened the throttle as the engines roared.

'What's our status?'

'Not good, Buzz.' XR replied. 'If we hold this speed for much longer the engines are going to give.'

_We're going to die. God have mercy upon our souls, upon my crew._

'Booster! How's the scan coming?'

'Nothing positive yet, Buzz.' The Jo-Adian replied. 'Long range scans can only prove one thing.'

'And what's that, Ranger?' Buzz asked.

'Whatever it is, it's huge. And there are two of them.'

_God, have mercy._

'Mira, we need more speed on this thing.'

'Throttle at maximum, Buzz, we can't go any faster!' Mira recomputed the course layouts as quickly as she could. At this velocity the slightest deviation could add up.

'Correction.' XR noted. 'Now re-diverting non-essential power to engines…' He pushed a few buttons. 'Main galley, weapons control…' XR continued at his task. 'Refrigerating system, auxiliary launch support… Got it!' He hit one last key and with a dramatic flourish and a 'Tada!', the lights went out.

_This is it._

All hands brace for impact.

'Thanks, XR.' Mira managed her most penetrating tone. 'Thanks a lot.'

'Well, so-rry. I thought _red_ was lights.' The lights came back on.

'Booster, how are those scans?' Buzz reran the transmission they received earlier in his head.

'I need to reboot my system from the power failure. Gimme a minute.' He tapped his screen, and the image returned. 'Uh oh.'

'What is it?' Buzz asked.

'The ships are gone.' Booster said. All eyes turned to look at their leader. Buzz's eyebrows furrowed.

'Buzz?' Mira asked.

'Continue on course.' Buzz said. 'We've got to find out what happened to that ship.'

_Repeat, to any ships receiving this transmission. This is a top-priority distress call. We_- Here the transmission faltered a bit. _Repeat, this is the- Arh!_

The abrupt distress signal that they had earlier received caused a hurried Buzz Lightyear to abort the mapping mission and proceed with maximum alacrity to the source of the signal. After fifteen minutes, they had still not even halved the distance between them and the- whatever it was.

Buzz ordered a slowdown before the cruiser gave into the stress, and their little ship continued to hurtle onward to their destination.

**'And the ship?'**

**'As you ordered.'**

**'Good. Very good. Proceed with the preparations. We need more than just the Armerant.'**

It was a full forty minutes before they arrived at the source of the transmission. The sensors were not perceptive at light speed, so when they slowed down to manual power, the sight that greeted them burned itself into their minds.

Pieces of a ship. So many of them that little clangs could be heard as bits of twisted and broken metal struck their cruiser. There was one extremely large piece, completely charred, but they could still see the reinforcement barriers on the inside section. What appeared to be a chair floated past the ship, and what remained of a power conduit bounced off the cockpit.

'Oh no.' Mira said slowly as she took in all that she saw. Another few bits of metal floated past as the cruiser slowly swam past the piles of debris.

'It's gigantic.' Booster said as he looked down at his screen. The field of death carried on for over three kilometers in every direction: Up, down, everywhere.

'Was gigantic.' XR said. 'How big was this ship?'

'According to scans, more than a kilometer long. We're talking something at least half the diameter of Star Command.' Booster said.

'How many people?' Mira said, trying to digest everything. 'A thousand? Two?'

'Even more importantly, what had the power to destroy a ship this size?' Buzz said.

'There were two of them.' Booster remembered. 'Maybe this debris is from two ships?' 

'No, the radial point of the debris starts here.' Buzz pointed at his screen. 'One ship.'

'There's a hole in the field.' XR said, looking at Booster's screen. 'That would mean that the second ship would have been there.' Upon hearing this, Buzz immediately snapped to command mode.

'Booster, find the energy trail for that ship. It can't have gone too far. XR, recharge the engines and prepare for light speed. Mira, I need you to work with Booster. Find out where that other ship went.' Buzz opened his commlink. 'I'll contact Star Command.' He stopped when he noticed something. 'Mira?'

The Tangean stood, one hand on the cockpit glass looking out at the remnants of the ship. The emotion in her eyes was all too clear.

'Who could be capable of this?' She asked.

'We'll find out.' Buzz replied.

**'Another ship. Where the last one was.'**

**'Damn. They must not tell anyone! Jam the entire sector! I want them destroyed!'**

'This is Cruiser 42, Star Command, please read.' Buzz said. 'Star Command, this is Cruiser 42, in Sector Gamma Omega Nine. Respond, Star Command.'

'No luck yet, Buzz?' Booster asked.

'No.' Buzz shut his commlink.

'Ya know, we are way out of Alliance space here.' XR said. 'The transmissions could take a while to-'

'Not this long.' Buzz said, standing. 'XR, I want engines online. We're getting out of here, now.'

'Gotcha.' XR began to move towards the hatch when a loud explosion came from the back of the ship. The crew was thrown forward as the power went off yet again.

'Everyone alright?' Buzz managed. There was another explosion just as he finished the sentence. Mira felt her entire body fling into the control panel and her mind detonated in a haze of pain. Before she blacked out the last thing she felt was a burning sensation.

'It was my fault, Buzz. If I'd been watching the sensor screen we would've seen it coming.'

'The impact warning never kicked in, though.' XR said. 'I wonder why.' 

'Never mind that now. The both of you see what you can do about the engines. I'll continue to attempt contact with Star Command.'

Mira heard footsteps and a chair being pulled to the side of wherever she was. Then a beep, and Buzz's familiar voice.

'Star Command, this is Buzz Lightyear of Cruiser 42, please respond.' A pause. 'Star Command, do you read?' Another pause. 'Damn it!' Buzz slammed his commlink shut just as Mira opened her eyes.

'What happened?' She asked, getting up. 'Agh!' She stopped as a slicing pain cut through her side.

'Take it easy.' Buzz said. 'You bruised your ribs pretty badly when you hit the control panel like that.'

'What happened to the ship?' She spoke through the pain, being careful not to touch her side.

'A piece of debris got lodged in the engines. Booster and XR are on it now.'

Mira sank back down slowly. 'So we're stranded here.'

'For about the better part of the day, yeah.' Buzz said.

'No luck contacting help.'

'None.'

Mira closed her eyes. 'Buzz.'

'Yes?'

'Just now, I could almost feel them.'

Buzz looked at her slowly. 'Who?'

'The crew.' She said, returning Buzz's quizzical expression with her best controlled look. 'Of that ship.'

'Ah.' Buzz said.

'I imagined I was with them. In their final moments before they-' She stopped.

'Died.' Buzz finished.

'Yes.' She said. 'I felt all this grief, and, and sorrow, and complete…' She trailed off. 'Hopelessness.' Buzz said nothing, so Mira continued. 'Like all of them just realized that they were going to die, and there was nothing they could do about it.'

Buzz sat in silence as he confronted this feeling. Death was a consideration all rangers took when they joined but never had he faced it on this large a scale.

'We've got to find out who did this.' Mira said, tears rolling down her pale blue skin. 'Tell me we will.'

There was a long silence as Buzz decided what to say. There was a beep.

'Eh, Buzz?' XR said over the commlink. 'Sorry to bother you, but Booster and I were working on the engines when something happened to float by…'

'What is it, XR?'

'It's, ah-' XR looked over his shoulder at something, then seemed to reconsider. 'I think you should look at this.'

'Well, show me!' Buzz said.

'Aaah, no.' XR said decidedly. 'You've got to see this.' XR leaned forward. 'And I mean with your two little eyeballs.'

'I'll be right out.' Buzz stood up and headed out the door.

'No.' Buzz said as he forced himself to rethink the impulses that his brain was giving him.

'Exactly what Booster said.' XR pointed to Booster, who was hurriedly working on the engines. 'I locked down the piece, and called you.'

Buzz kept looking at Booster. The alien seemed to be trying not to look in his direction.

'But it can't be!' Buzz said. 'I know all the records and there's no such thing as-'

'But it's here, Buzz.' XR pointed. 'I matched the rest of the debris with this. It's definitely part of the ship.'

Buzz looked. And looked again and again.

Mira was supporting herself on the doorframe when the hatch opened and Buzz stepped in. He saw her.

'Mira, what are you doing out of-'

'What.' She said. 'Is going on?' She demanded. When Mira was in this mood there was no arguing with her. Buzz sighed.

'Get your helmet.' He said as he turned and opened the hatch once more.

'No.' Mira said as she forced herself to rethink the impulses that her brain was giving her.

'See? That's what Buzz said. I say, all you carbon-based life forms are exactly alike. No variety whatsoever.'

'It's-' Mira started.

'It's a nameplate.' Buzz said. Mira read it for the tenth time.

CV BALTIMORE

COMMISSIONED: 2025 AD

TERRA THREE SPACE FLEET

No one needed telling what 'Terra Three' was.

'I haven't heard the term 'Terra Three' since the Academy.' Mira said in pure shock, her earlier pain forgotten. 'This is one of ours!'

'But there is no Space Fleet.' Buzz said. 'Never was. The ship designation CV doesn't exist. Baltimore was a place in America.' He thudded the metal. 'Nothing else!'

'What's America?' XR asked.

'Look at this date.' Mira ran a finger over the middle of the painted zero. 'This ship is centuries old.'

'Heh. No wonder it blew up.' XR said. 'Maintenance alone would've cost an arm and a leg.'

'But we didn't have the technology to build this-' Buzz waved a hand at the floating debris. 'At this time!' He pointed at the date. 'Even now our ship building capability is limited to Star Cruisers. How on Earth did we find enough power to propel a ship this size?'

'Maybe someone's just yanking our chain.' XR said.

'The nameplate's in English.' Mira said. 'Alliance protocol states that all ships must bear names in English, and their own language.'

'So maybe it's not an Alliance ship.' XR suggested.

'Then if it's not-' Buzz said. 'Somebody somewhere has the power to create a ship of this magnitude.'

'And somebody somewhere has the power to blow it up.' Mira said.

'Wow.' XR said. 'You know, I've been thinking.'

'You have.' Buzz said.

'Yes, I have.' XR defended. 'Judging by the size of the ship and the radius of the debris, I'd say that this battle went on for a long time.'

'Why?' Mira asked.

'If the ship blew up in one giant explosion, the debris would be a lot more spaced out, you know? But looking at this, and by this I mean this gargantuan amount of destruction, I'd say that the _Baltimore_ got pounded over time, causing little bits to fly out, and then when the ship finally gave in, the debris got spread out a little more.'

'I get it.' Mira said, hope sparkling in her eyes. 'If the battle took a long time, then at least the _Baltimore_ would've caused some damage!'

'XR, I want a scan of every last piece of debris here. If any of it doesn't look like it belongs to the _Baltimore_, then I want it hauled into science lab.'

'Sir.' XR replied, boosting back towards the hatch.

'Booster, how are those repairs coming?' Buzz came over.

'Goind fie, Buzz.' Booster replied, half his body up Number Two Engine. 'Nedd a liddle felhp fere.'

'Right.' Buzz grabbed the toolbox which was floating beside Booster. 'Where do I start?'

'No… nope… nada… zip… zero… zilch… naught… nil… nonexistent…' XR muttered as he continued to scan. Mira, who was standing behind him opened her mouth to inquire as to his progress when he cried out 'AHA! Gotcha!' He brought his finger down hard on a button, and a small piece of debris filled the center of the screen. Little readouts began to display on either side of the image, too fast for Mira to comprehend. 'No match whatsoever. Material's different, size dimension is different, diffusion patterns, laser burns, yep.' XR said. 'We have our bogey.'

'My God.' Buzz said. 'Ten minutes with a laser saw and not so much as a scratch.'

The almost square piece of brown metal was being subjected to as much testing as the team could muster. So far, they hadn't been able to so much as dent it.

Lying beside the piece was a part of the _Baltimore_, also being subjected to the same testing. The results were even more appalling.

Both hulls were composed of unknown alloys, and both were stronger than anything the Alliance scientists had yet to come up with. These were obviously ships of war.

Structural analysis and testing had proved one stronger over the other, which made the team come to the horrible realization of the scope of what they were dealing with.

The hull section of the _Baltimore_ was almost twice as strong as that of the other ship.

Obviously, the ship had either got the jump on the _Baltimore_, or opened fire first. Or maybe they had some secret weapon, some trump card that allowed them to completely devastate a ship with twice their armor and get away with only minor damage. But that would disprove XR's theory on the amount of fight the _Baltimore_ dished out before she blew.

Or maybe.

'Shields.' Mira said, suddenly. 'That's got to be the only answer.'

'Answer to what?' Buzz asked.

'That's how they managed to one-up the _Baltimore_.' Mira said in realization. 'Of course!'

'As in energy shields?' Booster said. 'That technology is pretty recent, and nothing at this level.'

A shield powerful enough to protect a ship of this size long enough for it to completely destroy the _Baltimore_.

Star Command would be rendered completely helpless.

'What do we do now?' Booster asked.

'We get out of here.' Buzz said.

'But-' Mira protested.

'It's too dangerous to stay out here for long.' Buzz said. 'Our mystery ship might come back. And if the _Baltimore_ couldn't handle it, what chance do we have?'

A ship. Amidst the wreckage. Small, white, gleaming.

And totally paralyzed.

'XR, how goes it?' Buzz asked.

'Last few power couplings.' XR replied. 'Nothing much else besides some weld work and some new paint.'

'Need a hand out there?' Booster asked, over Buzz's shoulder.

'Nah. I'll be done in three.'

'Good.' Buzz said. 'Over and out.'

'Buzz, something tells me we should stay here.' Mira said from her position. 'The answers are in here somewhere. We're just not looking hard enough.'

'Well, something tells me that we're not going to have much luck finding those answers if we're in too many pieces to do so!' Buzz sat down. 'Lay in a course for the closest comm relay. We need to-'

'Buzz!' Booster called. 'We've got a ship incoming fast! It's dead ahead!'

Mira felt her heart sink.

'How big?' Buzz dreaded the reply.

'Ten meters long.' The relief was almost audible. Buzz immediately opened a channel.

'Unknown vessel, this is Space Ranger Lightyear of Star Command. Identify yourself immediately.'

No response.

'Unknown vessel, identify yourself. This is Space Ranger Lightyear of Star Command. Repeat, identify yourself or be fired upon.' The ship was visible now. It was obviously a one-man craft, judging from the cockpit, but the configuration was alien to him.

Then it fired. A volley of lasers streaked across the side of the cruiser, causing the whole ship to shake.

'XR!' Buzz shouted into his commlink. 'Get those engines online!'

'As you command.' XR said as he entered the flight deck. 'Punch it, Mira!'

'You got it.' Mira opened the throttle as the ship began to turn towards their attacker.

'XR, lock weapons and fire to disable.' Buzz said. 'This may be our key to unlocking this enigma.'

'Eat this!' XR fired a brief fury of laser after laser into the small ship, which was circling around the Star Cruiser. Not one met its mark.

'That thing is fast!' Booster said.

'Buzz, I can't face him!' Mira said as she wrestled the controls. 'He's running circles around us!' The ship rocked again as the fighter unleashed another stream of lasers unto the aft section and pulled ahead of the cruiser.

'Outer hull breach!' Booster yelled.

'Whatever that thing's packing, it's going to tear us apart soon if we don't stop it!'

XR, meanwhile, was lining up a shot.

'Gotcha!' He fired one shotgun burst of lasers in the general direction of the fighter. Its shields gleamed blue as the lasers were harmlessly absorbed.

'No.' Buzz repeated as the ship did a complete turnaround and headed straight back towards them. XR fired again, in vain. In slow motion, a small cylindrical object floated out of the fighter, as the small ship banked away. Mira remembered looking at the white tube for what seemed to be eternity before the missile's engines ignited.

'Evade!' Someone screamed. Buzz? Booster? She didn't know. The controls moved before her brain even registered that she'd moved them, and the cruiser sped upwards and away.

The missile disappeared from view as it went under the belly of their ship and connected with the ceramic armor plates.

Time resumed its normal speed as the crew was thrown forward. XR realized the opportunity and released a hail of fury upon the fighter.

The oncoming barrage proved too much for the little ship as its shields faltered, then failed. One last shot slammed into the fighter's hull with a resounding finality as it exploded, the ejection pod streaming out into space, fire in its wake.

'Damage report.' Buzz managed as he looked behind him. His crew seemed alive.

'Outer hull damage. Nothing too bad.' Booster said. 'There's a small breach of the inner hull in cargo bay four, but that's sealed up.'

'What the hell was that thing?' Mira said. 'It had more firepower than we did!'

'And shields.' Booster pointed out.

'We'll deal with that later.' Buzz said, looking at the eject pod. 'Right now we've got to save the pilot.'


	2. Revelations

XR and Booster headed for the eject pod as fast as their jets would carry them, as the cockpit was still drifting away from the explosion. It was spinning slowly as it flew away from their ship.

'Ready the line.' XR said as Booster took aim. The 'line' was better described as a magnetic harpoon gun. He fired, and flew backwards about ten feet. The titanium cable shot out towards the pod and attached itself firmly.

'Got it!' Booster said as he locked down the line. The slack in the cable soon went taut and Booster fired up his jets to maximum power to prevent himself from being dragged along. Both ranger and eject pod struggled for a while in a battle to gain ground, then Booster won. Slowly, the pod moved towards the cruiser as Booster reeled in the line.

'Good job, Booster.' XR remarked. 'I'll check on the pilot.' He flew over to the cockpit and peered in through the glass, moving in sync with the pod.

An alien sat in the pilot's seat. It was presumably male, with dark green skin and not-very surprising features. Apart from the color, he looked almost human. He was wearing a blue jumpsuit and an oxygen mask, which was streaked dark red from the gaping wound in his head.

'Oh boy.' XR said as he opened his commlink. 'Buzz? I think we have a problem.'

'What is it, XR?'

'Flyboy here has a hole in his head the size of a marshmallow.'

'He's injured?' Booster asked. 'Ready the Medbay! I'm taking him directly there!' Booster went to full thrust, the cockpit pulling in front of XR.

'Like he said.' XR pointed with his thumb. 'You'd better get some duct tape or something, Buzz. He's beat up pretty bad.'

'Mira and I will be right there.' Buzz said. 'Over and out.'

Booster was having some problems. In zero-gravity, it doesn't take a lot of force to get an object going. The problem lies in getting it to stop once it _is_ going. After a few tries, he got the pod lined up with the airlock hatch, and opened his commlink. 'Buzz! Open the Medbay airlock, pronto!'

The hatch began to open and Booster slowly pushed the pod into the airlock. The hatch closed behind him just as XR flew in, and the door to the Medbay opened. Buzz and Mira rushed in with laser saws and immediately began cutting open the cockpit.

'Is he gonna be okay?' Booster asked.

'Boy, looking at that wound I feel kinda bad for shooting at him.' XR said, extending his legs so he could see past Booster's large frame.

'Not now, XR.' Buzz said as he and Mira continued. 'Damn, this thing is tough!' He wasn't even through an inch yet.

'This is too slow.' Mira turned off the saw, and reached for her laser. 'Everybody, cover your eyes.' She fired once at the cockpit glass as the stuff cracked. Another shot, and it shattered. A female voice floated out of the cockpit.

'-ning. Cockpit glass breached. Take emergency precautions. Repeat: Warning, cockpit glass breached. Take emergency precautions.

'Hello?' Mira said. 'Can you hear me?'

There were two beeps. 'Unauthorized access attempted.'

'I'm not talking to you!' Mira cried in frustration. Buzz stepped in.

'Computer, open cockpit.' He said. Two beeps.

'Wh-oa-ay.' XR said. 'Voice command. I'm impressed.'

'Access denied. You are not authorized personnel.' The computer voice responded.

'Open up, you stupid thing!' Mira thumped the glass with her fist. 'Your pilot is injured!'

'Pilot injury noted. You are not Space Fleet medical personnel.'

'For the love of-' Mira said, raising her fist.

'However,' The computer said, cutting her off. 'Due to circumstances, I have no choice but to comply.' The cockpit opened with a quiet clicking sound. Booster immediately grabbed the pilot and carried him to the nearest table. Open detecting a patient, the EKG and EEG monitors immediately began to display readouts. He lay him down and Mira immediately placed her hands on either side of his head.

'He's alive.' She said. 'But weak.'

'Can you pick his mind while we work?' Buzz said, grabbing some antiseptic from the medkit he'd just opened.

'We need to apply pressure to the wound.' Booster said. 'Possible fracture.'

'XR, get an X-ray here.' Buzz said, wiping away as much blood as he could. 'Mira?'

'I could try.' She said uncertainly. 'He's in shock, so his mind is going to be a little jumbled…' She looked down at his cold face and tried to concentrate. There was a mix of voices and random bits of noise.

_'Taking too many hits! I'm going down!'_

'Nova Nine, provide cover fire, formation four…'

'We're losing this…'

'-many hits, I'm going down!'

'Going down!'

'What the hell?' He said as his eyes opened. Mira shrieked in surprise as the pilot got up. The crew jumped backward as he looked at them slowly, blood streaming into his eye sockets. He wiped the blood away with a shaking finger so he could see and fixed his eyes on Buzz. His expression changed to that of surprise.

'You.' He pointed a finger. 'You… can't be-' He stopped and inhaled sharply. 'Can't be…'

'Heartrate's going wacko…' XR warned as he studied the readouts.

'Can't be what?' Buzz asked. 'What can't I be?' The pilot struggled with his words, trying to force them out of his head.

'H-' He tried 'Huh-' He closed his eyes and shivered. 'Hu-' The last syllable was soft, almost inaudible. 'man.'

The EKG went flat as his breath went out of him.

'Human?' Buzz said in surprise.

'No good, guys.' XR said. 'He's dead.'

Mira screwed her eyes shut as a growl rolled off her tongue. Booster hung his head and Buzz just stood, opened-mouthed as he repeated the word once more.

'Human.'

Buzz played with the pilot's name tag which was magnetically attached to his jumpsuit, twirling it around and around in his hand. 'Major Eliot Pryce.' He read. 'Nova Squadron, CV Baltimore.' He placed it on the metal table in front of him and folded his arms. 'Why didn't we see his ship before this?'

'I don't know, Buzz.' Booster said. 'Maybe his ship just came online, or something. It's smaller than quite a bit of the debris out there, so I just didn't find it.'

'The point is that he's dead.' Mira hit the table. 'We could have saved him!'

'You don't know that for sure.' Buzz said. 'XR is working on the black box now.'

'Black box?' Booster asked.

'Well,' Buzz said. 'The name 'black box' is just a term. It's really a-'

'Say no more, the great one is here.' XR entered the room, placing a large (bright red, not black) box on the table. 'It's very simple, really. A log of everything the pilot did since takeoff, and an audio recording from the oxygen mask microphone.' The robot plugged a small cable into the box and began playing the recording.

'This is Nova Nine, ready for takeoff.' A voice that they all recognized as Major Pryce's said. 'All checks cleared, and good to go.'

'This is Nova leader.' Another voice said. 'Alright pilots, listen up. We've got to hit them where it counts, because-'

'I listened to this earlier. It's all boring.' XR said, as the sound of the recording doing a very fast forward filled the room. 'This.' He said as he began to play normally. 'Is where it begins to get interesting.'

There was a loud, singular crack of what sounded like thunder, followed by another one. Someone screamed 'What the f-' before everything went silent. Buzz was about the speak up when the thunder rolled once more and the sound came back on.

'What the hell was that?' Eliot asked.

'Forget that, pilots.' A new voice said. 'Whatever it was, we should press the opportunity while they're confused. All guns fire!' There was silence for a while before a loud 'Oh my God.' coming from (presumably) another pilot filled the air.

'Did you see that? The lasers didn't even scratch their-'

'Don't everybody start making funeral plans all at once.' The late major said. 'Their forward flak guns are still online. Spare no missiles.' XR fast-forwarded yet again, while explaining:

'The next ten minutes is nothing but combat chatter and battle reports. The gist of it is that Major Pryce and company had little luck.' He stopped for a while.

'Their shields are too strong! We've got no-' Fwipfwipfwipfwip… 'All squadrons, retreat! There's not enough-' Fwipfwipfwip… 'Taking too many hits! I'm going down!' (Mira noted that this last voice had been female.) Fwipfwipfwipfwipfwipfwipfwipfwipfwip… 'This is Captain Talib of the CV _Baltimore_. Our weapons have failed, and our shields are failing. What remains of the ship has been sent on a collision course with the _Armerant_ in the hopes that our reinforcements, when they do arrive, will finish what we have started. May God have mercy on our-.' There was the loud scream of breaking metal, a brief shout, then static. The next few seconds were filled with white noise, as it became apparent that the captain's final, heroic attempt at defeating his enemy had failed.

There was a click as XR stopped the recording. 'The microphone was busted after that, but I think you get the point.' He said.

There was silence for a few moments.

'My God.' Mira said. 'They never stood a chance.'

'Then neither will we.' Buzz said. 'We have to inform Star Command of this. Mira, set course for Star Command, as fast as we can go.'

'What about the pilot?' Mira asked. 'Are we just going to leave him there?'

'Ranger!' Buzz snapped back at her. 'You,' His eyes narrowed. 'Will do exactly as you are ordered. Is that understood?'

Mira set her jaw as she replied. 'Yes, sir.' She was out the door a few moments later.

'XR, Booster, get some rest. Mira and I will take care of it from now on.'

'Okay dokie, no problem, gotcha, alright, done, very good, yes, sir…' XR was out the door faster than one would ever think possible of a robot, and Booster was right behind him.

'Goodnight, Buzz, Mira.' Booster said over his shoulder as the hatch closed.

Mira set the course and opened up the engines, feeling a hundred tons of metal move with one push of a button. She remembered why she'd joined Star Command in the first place, and a brief smile came to her face.

Major Pryce was just one of maybe a thousand more. He just happened to survive a little longer than expected. Now he was dead. He could have been saved, but now he was dead. The captain, the crew, all the pilots and people, dead because they hadn't reached them in time.

'Now you're being silly,' said Mira to herself. 'You know that 42 couldn't have made a difference.' A hundred cruisers, with Alliance support, maybe some Tangean Strike Ships, maybe that would've made a difference.

Eliot's mind probing came to memory. He was practically screaming for the end, wondering when his tortured existence would be silenced. 

'Can't be human.' Mira said out loud. His last words made no sense, a crazed cry made by a man on the edge of the abyss. But why such words? More questions and no answers. Even as the ship drew further away field of death, Mira felt the coldness of it all cling to her bones like an infestation of her soul.

The hatch opened behind her and footsteps she recognized to be Buzz's padded on the floor. She heard him pull out Booster's chair and sit down, then some keystrokes. Then his familiar voice.

'Star Command, this is Cruiser 42, come in. Star Command, do you read? Star Command, this is Cruiser 42, Ranger Lightyear speaking.'

Mira sighed quietly as she listened to Buzz drone. If he didn't get a reply he'd be at this for hours.

'Star Command, do. You. Read?'

'Oh, give it a rest, Buzz.' She muttered.

'Star Co-' There was a slight pause, and she knew he'd heard her. 'Command. Star Command, this is Cruiser 42, currently en route to Alliance space, do you read?'

The mapping mission had already taken them further from Alliance space than the Cruiser normally would have gone out to. Their further course deviation because of the distress signal left them really way out there. To get to within immediate communications range of any Alliance planet would take at least a day, say nothing about Star Command itself. Coupled with the apparent communications breakdown, the rangers were in a pretty sticky situation.

'Star Command, do you read me? This is Buzz Lightyear of Cruiser 42, do you read?'

Mira said nothing this time, keeping her words to herself. Course correction would be her priority for the rest of the time. 

'Mira! Mira, wake up.' Buzz said, shaking her shoulder. 'There's a problem.'

'What?' She said, trying to force her brain up to speed. She didn't even know she'd fallen asleep. Looking behind her, she could see Booster and XR at their stations. 'What's wrong?'

'That's wrong.' Buzz pointed at the starscape in front of them. Or it would have been a starscape if a huge ship hadn't been blocking the way.

I digress. Huge isn't the word. Huge is an understatement.

'The hell?' Mira voiced only the end of her sentence as she looked up, then up some more. They seemed to be approaching the ship from the side, and it was tall rather than long. It took her a while to realize that they were coming at it at the wrong angle. The ship's front was on the upper portion of the viewscreen.

A thin shaft of light shone down from the to- front- of the ship and surrounded their cruiser.

'What?' Mira asked as the light disappeared. 'Guys, what-' She turned around and stopped dead.

They were gone. Buzz's chair swiveled a little, as if he'd just got out of it. But he wasn't there.

'This can't be.' She said.

'Oh, yes it can, Ranger!' A familiar voice flooded the flight deck. 'And I know where your friends are.' The tone of the voice grew teasing with the last few words.

'Zurg.' She spat the word. 'So you're behind this!'

'Oh, come on!' The evil emperor's voice boomed. 'When am I _not_ behind it?'

'What have you done to them?' Mira demanded, rage boiling in her.

'Nothing much. Just some dicing, and quartering, maybe some sauteeing…'

__

'What have you done?'

'Oh, gee, thanks a lot!' Zurg shouted. 'Now I can't even gloat properly anymore. Like the new ship, by the way? It's all the rage, I tell you. Haute Couture, truly, right down to the paint job…'

'If-' Mira squeezed the words between her teeth. 'You Don't Tell Me _NOW_ I will bring down the entire fury of Star Command on your ass like so many vultures to a carcass!'

A moment of silence before a snort, and then full blown laughter.

'Your Star Command?' He said, trying hard to be heard. 'You couldn't stop me with all the firepower in the universe!'

'Screw this.' Mira said as she reached for the manual weapons control switch at her panel.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you.' Zurg said. 'If you open fire on me your friends will die the most horrible death I can possibly imagine.'

'They're alive?' She said in disbelief.

'Oh, dang. I was hoping you wouldn't say that. Now I have to play some elusive little game with you just to keep myself entertained.' Then he spoke in a softer tone. 'I was actually going to make them listen to my grubs sing soprano until their livers melted and their brains oozed out their ears, _but_… I have to reprise.'

An image appeared on the screen in front of her. Buzz and Booster were looking at the camera and shouting something.

'Buzz!' She said, reaching out for the screen just as the image disappeared.

'You have-' Pause. 'Fifteen seconds before the airlock behind them opens and they die. The airlock's right here…' A light turned on near the aft section of the ship. 'Have fun.'

Mira shouted a war cry as the engines maxed themselves out. The afterburners punched in as the ship began to tear through the distance between the two ships.

'Thirteen.' Zurg's bored voice reminded her of the limit. Her hands tightened their grip on the controls as she flew the ship towards the pool of light.

'Ten.' Zurg said.

Power. She needed more of it.

'Nine.'

Mira began flipping every switch she could, turning off as much as the ship could afford besides engines.

'Eight.'

'I'm coming, guys.' She said, vowing. 'I'll beat him.'

'Seven.'

Only another five hundred meters.

'Five.'

She was going to make it.

'Fou- Oh what the heck.'

The airlock popped open like a sinister jack-in-the-box as Buzz, Booster, and what seemed to be robot parts flew out of the airlock.

'NO!' She screamed as the ship, unable to stop crashed directly into Buzz. He hit the foresection of the ship, then rolled a bit. The sheer velocity closed the distance between the nose and the cockpit fast and there was a sickening thud as he hit the viewscreen.

'NO!' Mira screamed once more as she felt a presence behind her. Zurg's ship loomed ahead, the distance between herself and a billion tons of armor plating steadily decreasing.

The figure placed a hand on her shoulder. The world stopped, jarred, then took a serious U-turn.


	3. Final Discovery

_ONLINE._

_ATTEMPTING TO ESTABLISH LOCATION..._

_LOCATION ESTABLISHED._

_ESTABLISHING SECTOR..._

_SCANNING..._

_..._

_..._

_ ..._

_ SCAN COMPLETE._

_CV BALTIMORE FOUND._

_DEPLOYING ALL SHIPS..._

'Mira! Mira, wake up.' Buzz said, shaking her shoulder. 'There's a problem.'

'What?' She said, trying to force her brain up to speed. She didn't even know she'd fallen asleep. Looking behind her, she saw the familiar walls of the flight deck. 'Not real.' She said slowly in pure relief. 'It wasn't real.'

'Mira?' Buzz asked. 'What's not real?'

'Hm? Oh, nothing.' She said, shaking her head as she touched the side of her face. It felt oddly numb. 'What's the problem?' 

'We're approaching Betelgeuse.' Buzz said, sitting down as his safety belt slid into place. 'Prepare to slow the ship.'

'Sir.' She responded to Buzz's command, bringing the ship down to cruise speed.

Betelgeuse (Pronounced 'Beetle juice') was a star in the Orion constellation, the largest star ever discovered. It was so large that it's gravitational field extended for light-years . The ship had to slow down so that the course deviation caused by the gravity pull would be minimized. Once they were far away enough, it was all systems go.

The ship passed Betelgeuse quite regularly. Her hands made movements, routine, repeated. Buzz also began programming flight vectors as the red glow of Betelgeuse's light shone into the viewscreen. Mira stared at it for a moment, taking in its spectacle. The _ Baltimore_ tragedy still haunted her, though, like some small monster chewing pieces of her soul.

XR wheeled down the corridor of the ship, heading towards the med bay. He had an idea, and wanted to check his theory.

The door to the med bay hissed open and mixed with the sound of his motivators turning the treads on his feet.

'Hello Major.' XR said to the figure in the cryogenics tanks. 'Let's see exactly what you are...' He pressed a button, and small needles protruded from the side of the tank, going inward. 'I swear, this won't hurt a bit.'

It pierced the green skin, and withdrew a tiny sample of his DNA. XR removed the sample and put the needle and the storage tank in the biopsy analyzer.

It took thirty seconds to analyze the sample. And another minute and a half before XR got his jaw back up.

'Buzz.' XR said over the commlink. 'There's something very important I think you should see.'

'What's the problem?' Buzz asked. Mira glanced at him for a second, then returned to course setting.

'Major Eliot Pryce.' XR said, holding a data pad. 'Human male. Age, approximately thirty to-'

'What?' Buzz said in complete incredulity. Did he hear that right?

'Thirty to thirty-three standard years.' XR repeated. 'What's so odd about-'

'You said he was human.' Mira said. 'That's not possible!'

'Tell that to the biopsy machine. According to this.' XR held the data pad up to the screen. The familiar dual helix of a DNA strand appeared. 'Our friend is ninety-seven percent human.'

'Ninety-seven?' Buzz said in surprise.

'Okay, ninety-seven point oh three four nine two one six.' XR said. 'What am I supposed to say? Ever heard of dramatic effect?'

'What's the other three percent?' Mira asked.

'Don't ask.' XR said. 'Cause I don't know.'

'You don't know?' Mira said. 'You have an entire lab down there and you don't know?'

'Well, I'm sorry, okay?' XR said a little harshly. 'This runs completely against the species charts. Nothing, bar _nothing,_ is this close to human!'

'So why is he green?' Buzz asked.

'Three percent unknown. Go figure. Could be that flyboy here is a genetic experiment.'

'So he's the only one?'

'Maybe. I didn't look for genetic material back at the _Baltimor_e. Granted, it would be difficult to find any...'

'If he's human, then Star Command should have records on him.' Buzz said.

'I thought communications were out.' Mira said.

'They are.' Buzz replied.

'Then why are we even_ considering_ that option?' XR asked huffily.

'Fine.' Buzz said. 'XR, get to the flight deck. Run the data through the main computer and see if you can get anything. Mira, back to flying.' He closed the link.

'There seems to be another ship coming in on sensors.' Mira said, her course plotted. The computer would take care of the rest.

'Another ship.' Buzz said, pressing a button on the communications panel. 'Unknown ship in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, please identify yourself.' There was silence. 'Unknown ship, please respond.' Still no answer.

'I don't understand.' Mira said, shaking her head. 'That ship is well within communications range.'

'Maybe they're not responding on purpose.' Buzz said. 'I'll try again.'

'Well, if it hasn't heard us, its certainly seen us.' Mira said, running her preliminary scans. 'It just changed direction, heading on an intercept course.

'What else can you get from the scans?' Buzz asked.

'Well, it's a little far away, but...' Mira pressed a few keys. 'It's of an unknown configuration.' She said. 'Doesn't match anything on the database.'

'Assume hostile. Code Red.' He said, as the flashing red light indicating a red alert began to pulsate on the ship. XR wheeled in, closely followed by Booster.

'Whoa. Hope I didn't miss anything.' XR took his station.

'Booster, run advanced scans on that ship.' Buzz said, as Booster quickly figured out which ship needed scanning. 'XR, power weapons. We're assuming hostility.'

'Buzz...' Booster said quietly.

'Mira, keep on course for a while longer. Prepare to go to maximum speed on my signal.

'Buzz!' Booster said, louder.

'What?' Buzz said, annoyed slightly. 'Results are in?'

'It's gigantic!' Booster said in shock as he ran his scans again. 'At least two, two and a half kilometers-'

Mira stopped moving. Her entire body seemed frozen.

'Holy Kittens.' XR said as he looked at Buzz. 'That's the, er, what's it called, the-' 

'_Armerant_.' Buzz said.

'Yeah, that's it.' XR said, snapping his fingers. Then reality sunk in. 'Oh boy.' He said in quiet tones.

'Can't we outrun it?' Booster asked. 'It's closing on us and quick!'

'Mira, get us away from it.'

'Trying.' She said, as the ship turned. 'We can't go any faster than this.' Mira said urgently. 'Betelgeuse is still holding us back.'

'XR, ready all weapons.' Buzz said. 'We're going to put up.'

'Buzz, oh great leader of ours, no offense, but we can't fight this thing!' XR shouted. 'You saw what it did to the Baltimore. We're going to need help!'

'Something's happened to Star Command.' Buzz said firmly. 'I can't get through to them on any relays. No incoming signals either. No transmissions whatsoever.' He said. 'Not just Star Command, the entire Alliance has just disappeared.'

'That means we're jammed.' XR said matter-of-factly.

'What?' Buzz said.

'Jammed. What you just described is indicative of a communications jam.' XR said. 'Ranger manual, page ninety-four, communications breakdown? Remember?' He folded his arms.

'Oh boy.' Booster said.

_FINAL COORDINATES DETERMINED._

_COURSE SET FOR BETELGEUSE._

_ETA 0:04:03..._

_ETA 0:04:02..._

_ETA 0:04:01..._

_ETA 0:04:00..._

_ETA 0:03:59..._

'Mira, prepare to go to light speed the moment we clear Betelgeuse.' Buzz said.

'What if they shoot at us?' XR said.

'They can't possibly fire on us from this range.' Buzz assured. 'We'll be safe.'

A laser cut through the emptiness, closing the immense distance in a heartbeat and seared over their ship, missing by almost twenty meters.

It wasn't like regular lasers, in which a short burst was fired, and then recharged for the next shot. This one sustained, and began slicing through space, headed straight for their ship.

'Holy shit!' Mira banked hard right and moved up, the laser barely missing them. Then it stopped. 'That.' She breathed. 'Was too damn close!'

'You were saying?' XR said, folding his arms.

'Evasive maneuvers, Mira.' Buzz said. 'Let's get out of this alive.'

'I'm trying.' Mira said, throwing the ship in erratic, random movements. Another laser scythed through the space below them and missed horribly.'

'How long until we're clear?' Booster asked.

'Another minute and a half.' Buzz replied. 'They'll never catch us.'

'Once we get out of range of them, we can contact Star Command.' XR said. 'And then- Backup! Oh, sweet backup!'

_ETA 0:03:23..._

_ETA 0:03:22..._

_ETA 0:03:21..._

_ETA 0:03:20..._

The ship continued to fire upon them, none of their shots anywhere as close as the first one. They had given up on firing long sustained shots, and were trying for short, staccato bursts. Mira managed to constantly outmaneuver their clumsy shots and continued onwards beyond the reaches of the star.

'Sixty seconds to clearance.' Buzz said. 'XR, are the light speed engines charged?'

'Done in ten.' XR said. 'Plenty of time.'

'How are we going to stop this thing?' Booster asked. 'I don't think even Zurg could destroy a ship that size.'

'That I doubt.' Mira said sarcastically.

'Worry about that later.' Buzz said. 'Forty-five seconds.'

'Probably Star Command will come up with some new shield penetrating weapon.' XR said. 'No biggie. Once we get out of-'

He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of several new ships just in front of Cruiser 42. He almost fired, but recognized the configuration.

'Star Command!' Everyone said in unison as the familiar white rockets flew past them and headed towards the _Armerant_ in a Delta Wing formation. They were soon joined by another wave of ships, also assuming the same position.

'No!' Buzz said as he realized that they were heading for their doom. 'All Cruisers, break off your attack!' He slammed the commlink button with his palm. 'Repeat, break off your-'

A brief but powerful laser sent pieces of Cruisers 18 and 73 hurtling to infinity and beyond. The ships immediately broke off the formations and scattered like rats who just spotted the resident housecat.

And continued onward.

A second shot blew Cruiser 85 to oblivion as a wide-eyed Team Lightyear saw members of the most elite force in the galaxy dropping like proverbial flies.

_ETA 0:02:01..._

_ETA 0:02:00..._

_ETA 0:01:59..._

_ETA 0:01:58..._

'Whatdowedo? Whatdowedo?' A flustered XR asked rather frantically, waving his arms.

'We have clearance.' Buzz said, his eyes staring at something in the far-off distance. He turned his gaze to his navigation officer. 'Mira, go to light speed.'

'_WHAT?_'' XR shouted.

'Buzz!' Mira said. 'We can't leave them at the mercy of that thing!' She spat the last word. 'We have to help them!'

'It's pure suicide if we go back that way.' Buzz said. 'We can't communicate, so maybe if we leave the field of engagement, then they'll follow suit.'

'He's got a point.' Booster said.

'I don't like this.' Mira said with a sharp edge to her tone.

'I'm not asking you to like it.' Buzz replied. 'Take us to ten thousand kilometers out of Betelgeuse. We'll see from there.'

'Sir.' She said, reaching for the button.

_ETA 0:01:30..._

_ETA 0:01:29..._

_ETA 0:01:28..._

_ETA 0:01:27..._

The entire ship began to vibrate violently the moment Mira sent the ship to light speed. The powerful crystallic fusion engines revved to life.

But nothing happened.

'Wha-?' Mira said.

'The hell?' Buzz said as the engines powered up even more to compensate for the apparent lack of velocity.

The Cruiser began to move. Slowly, but steadily accelerating.

Backwards.

'Tractor beam!' Booster said in shock. 'The ship's got us in a tractor beam!'

Mira looked to the left, and saw that the other cruisers were apparently in the same situation. They had stopped moving at their usual speeds and were instead being slowly drawn towards the ship, just like them.

'More power.' Buzz said. The engines began to rev even harder, pushing themselves to the limit. This continued for a few more seconds before Buzz sighed. 'XR, shut those engines down. Save the power.'

The robot complied and the power drained from their engines. The sound of their only salvation powering down was depressing to say the least.

In desperate situations, Buzz usually responded to pressure by raising his voice or, thumping his fist, or any other similar actions of aggression. His tone of voice since the beginning of this predicament did not reflect that at all. It was, rather, a sort of quiet desperation. The truth sunk into Mira like barbs as she felt something twist inside of her.

'We're going to die, aren't we?' She asked quietly.

Buzz exhaled slowly as he responded to her question. 'Yes.' He said. 'We probably are.'

'Oh phooey.' XR said in a mockingly sarcastic tone. 'And there was this big barbecue thing I had planned for next week.'

'We're going to die?' Booster asked. 'But I don't want to die!'

'Neither do I.' Buzz said. Suddenly the communications panel crackled to life.

_'All Cruisers, brace for impact! Fire weapons when within range!'_

_'My God, look at the size of that thing!'_

'Communications!' Buzz said in muted relief as he pressed the button. 'This is Ranger Lightyear to all Star Command vessels, do you read?'

_'Lightyear!'_ A voice said. _'What's going on here? Why-'_

The panel died. Buzz drew back his hand as if stung.

Nothing but silence.

Then

**'Crew of the human ships. This is the _Armerant_. We have come to destroy your pathetic species and conquer your Earth. Your technological inferiority is evident. We are superior. Soon our largest warships will come and destroy your precious'** The voice struggled with the strange words. '**Stah Commanda and you will finally become extinct!** **Do not think that you can stop us. Witness our true power.'**

A green spheroid issued forth from the fore of the ship and began a slow approach towards the wave of cruisers. The entire crew watched in deadly fascination as it came towards their friends' ships, helpless to evade, helpless to stop their imminent destruction.

There was a beep from Booster's panel.

'We're being scanned-' He began, then stopped.

There was the loud crack of what sounded like thunder. The whole world went pure shocking white as the sound repeated itself a few times. When their vision returned to normal, there was another ship, gargantuan in scope and dimension between the _Armerant_ and the Star Command ships. The torpedo smashed harmlessly upon the shields of the ship as 42 stopped vibrating. The new ship began to unleash all hell upon the Armerant with barrage upon barrage of never-ending lasers.

'Whoa, Nellie!' XR shouted as a giant ship flew past them, the sheer size of which made everyone lean backwards, as if to avoid it. The nameplate scrolled into view, and the crew read the large painted words letter by God sent letter.

_CV Rescue._

A quick glance around showed five ships surrounding the _Armerant_, firing powerful shots into her shields. The outclassed ship began to turn away, firing back, as the new ships converged on their prey,

A veritable sea of fighters emerged from the docking bays of the ships, and flew towards the _Armerant_, each black shape exactly like the one Eliot Pryce was flying. Missiles and pencil thin bursts of pure energy flew from every single one of the two hundred plus fighters in space, reinforcements for which were being readily sent. Their weapons pummeled the already battered _Armerant, _whichignored them as it tried to escape the deadly trap which had been set for it.

'Burn baby! BURN!' XR rolled back and forth in glee as the greenish brown ship began to take hull damage, her shields unable to withstand the hammering it was receiving left right and center. As the huge capital ships began to launch their heavy weaponry, the _Armerant's _hull gave in several places, spewing fire into the space. Laser fire was concentrated on the weak points, and in one final, resounding, climatic, and most all, silent, explosion, the _Armerant_ slowly, but surely, blew up.

The shockwave rocked their tiny Cruser as the fighters turned away from the blast. The ship crumbled from the outside in, in a series of small deaths before roaring its way to hell in a glory train like never before.

When the shockwave died down, the ships, their saviors, halted their movement. An undeniably female voice came over the commlink.

_Incoming message from Captain Veronica Kaylar of the CV CONGO. Please standby..._

_'Members of the human race.' _ A voice that sounded for all the world like a card-carrying member of the species spoke. _'We are in your debt. You helped us find the Armerant, and without your help we could not have stopped his menace to both your universe, and ours._

_'According to our inter-dimensional scans, you have already met the ill-fated Baltimore. The ones you haven't met are the COMVESS Congo._' One of the ships immediately fired off one short laser burst at Betelgeuse, to avoid harm. _'Flagship of the Oid Space Fleet. COMVESS Lambda. COMVESS Rescue. COMVESS Geneva, and COMVESS Britannica.' _Each of the ships named indicated themselves in the same way.

_'No doubt you are curious as to our nature, and our origin. We leave you with this: A disc containing all the information we can provide about our universe. Hopefully, one day, we can visit each other once again, this time, with us as the home team. Thank you once again, and farewell.'_ The thunder rolled once more, and time stood still.

When Mira stopped blinking, the ships were gone. All the evidence that they had ever existed was a small white pod where the _Armerant_ once was, bearing the words:

_Contents Fragile._


	4. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

'Mira?'

'Hm?' She said, looking up. 'Oh, Buzz. It's you. Sit down.' She scooted to the side, and Buzz sat. 'What's the story?' Buzz sighed.

'Well, the LGMs are struggling to decode most of the data, but it's going well.' Buzz said. 'So far.' He added.

'I see.' Mira nursed her glass. It was getting late, and her drink was getting cold. There was hardly anyone left in the cafeteria.

'What we've garnered so far is mostly text data. In short, the 'Oid' are some kind of human subspecies.' He said, raising a hand. 'Basically, they also explained the logistics of dimensional travel, and the fact that parallel universes don't necessarily share the same timeline. We assume that the evolved off the human race as an off-shoot species.'

'Green?' Mira asked, with raised eyebrow.

'Not actually.' He said. 'They sent a few pictures. Some of them are blue- and brown- and pink- and yellow-' He counted off his fingers.

'Right.' She said, taking a sip. It tasted horrible cold.

'The LGMs say that decoding the whole disc will take a while, since the information isn't read like our data storage banks. It uses a laser to read information off the disc, a technology that, apparently, is hundreds of years old.'

'Which would explain the weird dates on the nameplate.' Mira said. 'Maybe our present and their present is in a different time era.'

'Could be.' Buzz shrugged. 'Don't know for sure. I'm not actually supposed to tell you any of this, seeing as the information has been classified at level ten.'

'I won't tell if you won't.' Mira said mockingly. 'What else?'

'A crew listing of the CV _Baltimore_.' He said. 'One thousand three hundred and nine souls, including passengers.'

Mira bowed her head slightly.

One thousand three hundred.

'Damn, huh?' She said softly.

'Indeed.' Buzz sighed again. 'That's all we have so far.' He said.

'How do you think they know English?' Mira asked.

'Well they are human-'

'Oid.' Mira corrected.

'Humanoid.' Buzz said, quickly. 'They probably kept the language.'

There was a long silence. Mira finished her drink.

'So.' She said. 'That's it?'

'Yeah.' Buzz said, leaning back with his hands behind his head. 'That's it.'

'The end?'

'The end.'

Thank you for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please review it. All comments are welcome.

Final note: If you want to see what the _Baltimore_ and her sister ships looked like, go to [http://www.furnation.com/oidproject/images/cv.jpg][1]

   [1]: http://www.furnation.com/oidproject/images/cv.jpg



	5. After Word

AFTER WORD

Initially, this story was meant to be a simple search and rescue... Then I decided to do so much more with it. I realized I could write in the one project I have spent my entire writing career on, and what's more, I could make it believable.

CV Baltimore was a random ship I picked out of the fleet. Some people have asked me the significance of the name (Someone even mentioned her hometown was Baltimore) and the five other ships (Count them) are still alive and well in the other universe.

This was one of the more interesting stories I had to write because I religiously watched Buzz Lightyear for research purposes. Now that I've seen mostly all of them, it's just a matter of filling in the blanks. I had to go back and keep changing facts and twisting because they didn't coincide with the show. I now realize (too late, actually) that _Booster_ is at weapons and not XR. 

Someone complained about the swearing. This is reality. Through writing I try to portray reality as much as I can, and adults (e.g. The characters) do swear. This is how life is, and writers must draw from real life. Otherwise how real can it get?

As a final note: There is a sequel to CV coming soon. Watch for it.


End file.
